


Count the Seconds

by Ranunculaceae



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Missing Scene, Near Death Experiences, Protective Tony Stark, Sort Of, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 23:50:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18304037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ranunculaceae/pseuds/Ranunculaceae
Summary: The last thing that Tony had expected to happen when he’d gone to India was to be interrupted by a distress call involving a certain spandex-clad vigilante rapidly flying upwards over NYC.The river rescue in Homecoming from Tony’s perspective.





	Count the Seconds

“Boss, Peter Parker is in trouble.”

The robotic voice of his AI chiming through the discreet earpiece effectively cuts off Tony’s story. He blinks, feeling his chest constrict with the beginnings of panic, and quickly backs away from his audience with a few blunt words of apology. Glasses. Where are his glasses? His hand, already shaking, digs under the collar of his kurta where they’re hung.

“What’s wrong?” he asks urgently.

This is the first time that his protocols have prompted FRIDAY to contact him directly, and it’s only set to happen in extreme emergencies. It’s making his heart race as thousands of scenarios flash through his mind.

“Something is flying him upwards over Queens.”

Of all the days to be in New Delhi. His fingers itch with the need to have a repulsor at his palm.

“Send a suit. Give me eyes on him.”

He pushes his glasses onto his face just as they light up with the feed from the Iron Man suit as it leaves the compound and hurtles towards the city. He comes to stand beside a wall in the courtyard, away from anyone else so he can focus on FRIDAY and keeping his breathing even.

“He is still ascending. From this height, a fall may-”

Images of Rhodey smacking that field and lying motionless flash through his mind and leave him winded. He’d sworn that nothing like this would ever happen again, and he’d kept that promise in mind when designing this suit for Peter. He prays that it’s enough now.

“Get him down - deploy his parachute.”

Tony stares wide-eyed at the live images projecting onto his glasses, watching through the eyes of the Iron Man suit as it rockets towards Peter’s location.

“Parachute deployed, losing altitude.”

“Get me there. Now.”

The suit is still so far away. Tony’s eyes are fixed on the map displaying pings of both of their locations as the Iron Man suit crawls closer. It’s barely halfway there. He’s not going to make it. He’s not going to catch him.

“FRIDAY!” A few party-goers cast glances his way at the outburst, and they murmur to themselves in Hindi.

“Boss, Peter just went into the water.”

His hands grab at the wall to steady himself. He’s not going to freak out here. Not yet.

_Be okay. Be okay. Be okay._

“Read me his vitals?” Tony’s voice comes out breathier than he expects.

In one lens, the data from the Spider-Man suit flickers to light, and he takes in the accelerated heart rate consistent with fear, the nonexistent breathing rate as the kid holds his breath. Alive. No injuries.

He just has to get him out of the water.

“Top speed, FRI,” Tony orders urgently. “We’re going fishing.”

How long has it been since Peter went under? How long can he hold his breath? The suit can handle water, of course, but it can’t provide oxygen. Things to be fixed later, worked into the new design.

The Iron Man suit draws steadily nearer to the small dot that is Peter, and the map zooms in as the distance between them closes. Except, Peter is moving. The current is carrying him.

The lights of the city vanish from sight as the suit nears the river, and at this speed, Tony can’t be certain what he’s looking at as it all flies past. He just has to trust the trackers to find each other.

When he hits the water, for that first split second, he’s completely blind in the darkness until the lights from the suit illuminate particles speeding past. His stomach drops when he realizes just how far the suit is diving and how deep Peter has gone.

He doesn’t see him until the suit is right on top of him. Well, even then, he doesn’t exactly see him. Just a swirling white mass among the inky water.

Peter is trapped in the parachute and struggles weakly against it. Tony can see the fight leaving his body, as he recognizes the shape of Peter’s hand fisted uselessly in the fabric, and Tony instinctively raises his arms to help. “FRIDAY, give me remote control of the arms. I need to get him out.”

Some distant part of his mind wonders what he must look like to the people around him as he reaches out and sees the hands of the suit follow his actions. It’s only a matter of seconds, but time stretches endlessly as Tony fusses with the parachute, and the fact that Peter doesn’t help him out much isn’t doing anything to lessen his anxiety.

The moment that the Spider-Man mask becomes visible, Tony dives in and hooks his arms under the kid’s armpits, then rockets towards the surface again. The splash that comes when the suit breaks the water again may as well be the most beautiful sound Tony has ever heard, but there’s still one more thing that he wants to hear even more.

“Reduce speed.” The sound of the Iron Man thrusters dies down, and Tony holds his breath and counts the seconds until he sees Peter stirring in the arms of the suit.

Peter’s head turns a little, and Tony just barely catches the soft “Oh, hey.”

Tony shuts his eyes and lowers his head in relief for a moment at Peter’s voice. “Hold position, don’t drop him. FRI, take us somewhere quiet.”

“Right away, Boss.”

He’s safe. Peter’s heartbeat and oxygen saturation are already returning to normal levels. Tony draws a few deep breaths himself.

They reach a park, and Tony deposits Peter carefully onto the top of a jungle gym before sending the suit to hover a few feet away. Peter seems to be recovering himself quickly as he peels off his soaked mask and runs a hand through his hair, blinking a few times. It isn’t long before Peter starts talking, and as usual, turns to rambling as his energy returns.

Tony figures that now’s the time to break his silence. “Let me talk to him,” he tells FRIDAY finally. “Open the comms for me.”

Peter’s talking a mile a minute, and his stammer is being punctuated by the shivers now wracking his body as he wrings out the water from his mask. “-and he just took me up like a thousand feet and just dropped me!” He looks up towards the Iron Man suit to address Tony directly. “How did you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit or something?”

“I put everything in your suit.” Tony glances again at the vitals display and notes Peter’s temperature. “Including this heater.”

“Woah.” It would be endearing, if Tony weren’t still recovering from intervening that near-death experience, as Peter relaxes with the sudden warmth. “That’s better, thanks.”

Well, now that that’s accounted for. “What were you thinking?”

Peter points. “The guy with the wings is obviously the source of the weapons, I gotta take him down.”

“Take him down, now, huh? There are people who handle this sort of thing.” A waiter appears in Tony’s line of sight, then, and it’s truly a godsend because he could use a drink right about now. He turns and lifts a hand to mutter his order to him as Peter pipes up in response.

“The Avengers?” He sounds hopeful.

“No, no, no,” Tony looks back at him. “This is a little below their pay grade.”

Peter waves him off. “But anyway, Mr. Stark, you didn’t have to come all the way out here. I had that, I was fine,” he dismisses.

Guilt twists for a brief second in Tony’s gut as he straightens his posture and folds his hands in front of himself. “Oh I’m not…” he pauses to have FRIDAY lift the face plate of the empty suit, “…here. Thank god this place has wifi or you would be toast right now.”

The waiter returns, and Tony nods to him as he accepts his drink. He shifts back to the conversation with Peter as he starts walking. His nerves are still buzzing, and alongside it, anger is quickly rising. He doesn’t want to be here when it all boils over, so it’s time to go.

“Look, forget the flying vulture guy, please.”

“Why?” Peter whines.

Why? The little shit.

“Why? Because I said so!” Tony stops abruptly and tilts his chin. God, he sounds like his father. When did this happen?

Tony draws a breath to steady himself as he notices a woman approaching. He grimaces and bows to accept the flower garland she holds towards him, reminding him of his high status at this party and how many eyes are likely following him. “Sorry, I’m-” he stammers to her with a gesture. “Teenager.” She’s gone again just as quickly, but for a second Tony is left reeling once again because this really isn’t the place to be doing this right now. The anxiety is making his skin crawl. Moving always helps. He sets off walking again.

“Stay close to the ground,” Tony addresses Peter again. “Build up your game helping the little people. Like that lady that bought you the churro?”

He heads towards a wall again and lifts his drink towards his lips with his right hand. His left one braces the wall, even though that tell-tale tremor has returned to it. The adrenaline-fueled urge to flee is becoming unbearable. He needs to keep going slow, though, because he really can’t make a scene any more than he already has.

Why does Peter have to get himself involved in these things and stress him out like this?

“Can’t you just be a-” he takes a drink as he thinks, then sets it down with a soft tap, “friendly… neighborhood… Spider-Man?” Tony carefully removes the flower garland from around his neck and sets it down beside the cup.

“But I’m ready for more than that now,” Peter protests.

Tony can’t do much more of this. He’s almost to the valet where his car is waiting, just down these stairs now. He orders the mask back down on the suit. “No, you’re not,” he counters with a stern shake of his head. Obviously tonight has proven that, and the idea of Peter being placed in more, similar situations leaves Tony’s chest tight. He needs practice. Needs a better suit. This can’t happen again.

“That is not what you thought when I took on Captain America.”

“Trust me, kid, if Cap wanted to lay you out, he would have.” Yet another battle Peter probably shouldn’t have been involved in. Because of him. Ignoring the gazes of his hosts behind him as he pulls his French exit, Tony slides behind the wheel of his car. “Listen to me. If you come across these weapons again, call Happy.” The engine roars to life beneath him, and Tony sees Peter look around in confusion.

“Are you driving?”

Tony shuts his door. Yes, he is. Because he’s leaving. He needs to escape this conversation as well, and fast, so he does what he’s best at – deflects the question and redirects the conversation. “You know, it’s never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT. End call.”

He slams on the gas and peels away from the party at last, just as he lets go and his lungs deflate. The waves of anxiety finally properly find their release and wash over him with a shudder. His heart pounds. He’ll deal with the fallout of abandoning the party later. Right now, all he can focus on is reminding himself that Peter got out safe. He’s fine.

**Author's Note:**

> This scene never sat right with me, especially after I saw someone point out Tony’s shaking left hand during the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man bit. It didn’t make sense that Tony would leave the party so abruptly, so this was my take on what was going on with him. (He cares too much)
> 
> Leave a kudos or a comment and let me know what you thought!


End file.
